"MACK DADDY" <pepsivanilla@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:56541ffe-e870-4df1-bc8b-dc92052b2bb4@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Jul 18, 7:45 am, "Dennis" <no.surren...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "MACK DADDY" <pepsivani...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
>
news:f0c51b05-00ae-4cd4-8be2-2dec0d310917@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Jul 17, 11:36 am, "Dennis" <no.surren...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > FROM THE NY TIMES
>
> > HEAD: Seattle's Automated Toilets Go Way of the Box and Chain
>
> > After spending $5 million on its five automated public toilets,
Seattle
> > is
> > calling it quits.
>
> > In the end, the restrooms, installed in early 2004, had become so
> > filthy,
> > so
> > overrun with drug abusers and prostitutes, that although use was free
of
> > charge, even some of the city's most destitute people refused to step
> > inside
> > them.
>
> > The units were put up for sale Wednesday afternoon on eBay, with a
> > starting
> > bid set by the city at $89,000 apiece.
>
> > The dismal outcome coincides with plans by New York, Los Angeles and
> > Boston,
> > among other cities, to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for
> > expansion
> > this fall in their installation of automated toilets - stand-alone
> > structures with metal doors that open at the press of a button and
stay
> > closed for up to 20 minutes. The units clean themselves after each
use,
> > disinfecting the seats and power-wa****ng the floors.
>
> > Seattle officials say the project here failed because the toilets,
which
> > are
> > to close on Aug. 1, were placed in neighborhoods that already had many
> > drug
> > users and transients. Then there was the matter of cost: $1 million
> > apiece
> > over five years, which because of a local ordinance had to be borne
> > entirely
> > by taxpayers instead of advertisers.
>
> > In the typical arrangement involving cities that want to try automated
> > toilets, an outdoor advertising company like JCDecaux provides,
operates
> > and
> > maintains them for the municipality in exchange for a right to place
ads
> > on
> > public property like bus stops and kiosks. Revenue from the
advertisers
> > flows to both the company and the city.
>
> > But a strict advertising law here barred officials from such an
> > arrangement,
> > meaning Seattle had to pick up the entire $5 million cost. "That's a
lot
> > of
> > money, a whole lot," said Ray Hoffman, director of cor****ate policy
for
> > Seattle Public Utilities, the municipal water and sewage agency that
ran
> > the
> > project.
>
> > Richard McIver, a Seattle city councilman, agrees. "Other cities
around
> > the
> > world seem to be able to handle toilets civilly," Mr. McIver said.
"But
> > we
> > were unable to control the street population, and without the benefit
of
> > advertising, our costs were awfully high."
>
> > Automated toilets have been common fixtures on European sidewalks for
> > decades. But they have been less popular in American cities, where
> > concerns
> > including their appearance, cleanliness and tendency to attract
illegal
> > activity have slowed their installation.
>
> > In Seattle, problems arose almost immediately. Users left so much
trash
> > behind that the automated floor scrubbers had to be disabled, and
> > prostitutes and drug users found privacy behind the toilets' locked
> > doors.
>
> > "I'm not going to lie: I used to smoke crack in there," said one
> > homeless
> > woman, Veronyka Cordner, nodding toward the toilet behind Pike Place
> > Market.
> > "But I won't even go inside that thing now. It's disgusting."
>
> > In May, the City Council decided to close the toilets. It agreed to
pay
> > an
> > additional $540,000 fee to end, five years early, its maintenance
> > contract
> > with the operator, Northwest Cascade, a local company with no prior
> > experience in the field that was chosen when established operators
like
> > JCDecaux and Cemusa declined to bid because the project lacked
> > advertising
> > revenue.
>
> > Seattle's automated toilets, 12 feet in cir***ference and 9 feet high,
> > are
> > round and ****ny like steel cans. New York's design is a modernist box
of
> > steel and frosted glass, while the toilets in Los Angeles and San
> > Francisco
> > resemble ornate trolley cars without wheels. All have mechanisms that
> > control the doors and clean the floors.
>
> > Nowhere was the controversy over public toilets more bitter or longer
> > than
> > in New York, where it lasted 18 years and vexed three mayoral
> > administrations.
>
> > "At this point, I'm glad it's happening at all," said Fran Reiter, a
> > deputy
> > mayor in the Giuliani administration who led a failed effort to build
> > toilets in the city in the mid-1990s.
>
> > In 2005, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signed an agreement giving Cemusa,
a
> > Spanish company, a 20-year franchise to sell advertisements on bus
> > stops,
> > newsstands and kiosks. In return, the city will receive $1.4 billion
in
> > cash
> > and 20 automated toilets. The first, in Madison Square Park, opened in
> > January. Four more are to be installed in Brooklyn and Queens this
fall.
>
> > In Boston, a similar advertising contract has paid for six automated
> > toilets, said Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, and
> > the
> > city plans two more this fall.
>
> > "It works very well for us," Ms. Joyce said.
>
> > But opposition to advertising is hampering the effort in Los Angeles.
In
> > 2002, the city gave CBS Outdoor and JCDecaux a contract to sell
> > advertisements on bus shelters, kiosks and newsstands in exchange for
> > 150
> > automated toilets. Thirteen are operational so far, with two more
coming
> > this fall, said Lance Oi****, who leads the project for the city. Six
of
> > the
> > units are downtown near Skid Row, but others sit near transit stations
> > or
> > shopping areas, Mr. Oi**** said, and, contrary to Seattle's experience,
> > all
> > 13 have remained clean and largely crime free.
>
> > Neighborhood groups are blocking construction of new structures on
which
> > to
> > place advertising, however, and that means there is not enough revenue
> > to
> > sup****t additional toilets, Mr. Oi**** said.
>
> > "I do feel some frustration that things are not moving as fast as I'd
> > like,"
> > he said.
>
> > Some cities have had problems with maintenance. The 25 automated
toilets
> > in
> > San Francisco require constant fiddling, officials there say. "You
need
> > a
> > dedicated crew taking care of them every day," said J. Fran�ois
Nion,
> > executive vice president of JCDecaux North America, whose French
parent
> > company maintains 3,229 automated toilets worldwide.
>
> > Rather than automated toilets, some cities are looking for cheaper
> > alternatives that would be cleaned by human attendants. One prototype,
> > to
> > be
> > installed next month in ****tland, Ore., would cost $50,000 each,
> > compared
> > with some $300,000 for an automated unit.
>
> > Randy Leonard, a ****tland city commissioner, helped design that
toilet,
> > which in addition has open gaps at the top and bottom of the door, a
> > feature
> > discouraging drug abuse, prostitution and the like.
>
> > But given that lesser privacy, it is unclear how popular such a toilet
> > might
> > be, as Mr. Leonard acknowledges.
>
> > "We in the U.S. have yet to shed our puritanical roots," he said. "We
> > are
> > uptight about toilets."
> > *********
> > It's obvious the automated crappers should first be sent to Denver for
> > the
> > dim Dems' convention what with all the crap that'll be flowing
> > there...and
> > then moved to DNC headquarters for use wherever needed as Barack, The
> > Magic
> > Negro's mobile diarrhea ward.
>
> > Dionysus
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Yet another racist post from Copy Boy!
> *******
> No racism there, Beetle, Eater of Dung. Not a bit.
>
> Dionysus- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Plenty of racism, you're in denial!
*****
Nope, you are merely projecting your own hate.
Dionysus
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